Wilted Blossom
by CeeBoo
Summary: What if Kakashi had been too late in saving Sakura? What if Sakura died at the hands of Sasuke that day on the bridge? Oneshot if not decided otherwise.


**Wilted Blossom**

'_I—I can't do it_,' Sakura thought to herself, her arm shaking and tears clouding her vision as she bent herself forward a bit, her gaze on the girl laid out on the ground and staring back up at her through black rimmed glasses, '_I—She has nothing to do with this! Killing her… I—I can't_,' she decided and bit her trembling lower lip, wanting to cower away.

'_I—If I stab Sasuke right now_,' She closed her eyes, she couldn't bear to meet the wine colored gaze that was fixated on her, '_Then—Then this will all be over!_'

Suddenly, a weak voice spoke.

"S— Sasuke…" Sakura opened her eyes, verdant green gaze landing on the vibrant haired woman on the ground, was she going to beg for her life?

"S—Stop it… Don't do it…"

Sakura's eyes widened and she spun around.

Sasuke stood there, his gaze was dark, and terrifying. His arm was drawn back, a chidori formed in his hand. He was expressionless, though his eyes burned evilly as he glared down at her. She wanted to step back, to try and dodge the attack, but it was too late.

She felt pain in her chest, and upon looking downward, she saw that he stabbed her right through the chest with his entire arm, a malicious grin fixed on his lips. She was shocked, so shocked that she didn't even know how to react. She coughed up a mouthful of blood, it dripped down both sides of her mouth, and she slowly lowered her head, her body quivering, growing weak.

'_Sasuke… He…'_

He was satisfied with his work, he was finally able to get rid of the pink haired bitch that annoyed the fuck out of him with her 'I'll go with you' bull crap she presented upon first arriving here. He knew the girl was lying; now all he needed to do was kill the blond haired idiot and his old sensei.

"Sasuke!"

Said rogue recognized that voice, and turned his head, still smirking as he looked back at Kakahsi, "Well, well, you just missed the show," he roughly yanked his arm out Sakura's chest, and to Kakashi's horror, she dropped to the ground like a limp doll.

Kakashi was frozen, shell shocked at what he just seen, '_He killed her, he actually killed her. No remorse in his eyes, no mercy…'_ his eyes darkened and his gaze became rather serious, '_Is this how far you have fallen, Sasuke?_'

Kakashi slowly stepped forward, "Sasuke, look around you," he spoke in a calm tone of voice. He wasn't going to cry, or show any signs of sadness, a shinobi never allows emotions to be shown during a mission, and it would only satisfy Sasuke to see him get angry, or start crying, "Look at what you've become."

Sasuke laughed bitterly and stepped away from him, side-stepping as Kakashi finally reached his pupil, and he knelt down beside her.

She was still breathing, but it was very strained. Her eyes were open, but he knew she was fighting to stay awake right now. He turned her over on her back, and cupped her cheek lightly, "I'm sorry, Sakura," was all he could say, no amount of medical healing could help her now. The arteries that connected to her heart were severed, and her lungs were completely crushed, she was barely holding unto life now.

It was too late to save her, she was done for.

He had been too late.

Sakura nodded, a shaky smile appearing on her lips, "I should be the one apologizing, Kakashi-sensei. I acted on my own because I thought I could kill Sasuke. I was a fool—and I'm so sorry."

"Ssh," he shushed her gently and pushed pink strands of hair out her face, "Don't speak, save your breath. I only wish—I only wished I'd allowed Naruto to come with me, he should share your last moments with you."

Sasuke was getting bored, "Kakashi, are you here to fight me or not? Cut the emotional crap already."

Kakashi gave an annoyed glance to the Uchiha behind him before looking back down at Sakura, "It was an honor being your sensei, Sakura."

Sakura smiled at him, her verdant eyes soft, "I— It was an honor being your student, Kakashi," she bit her lower lip lightly before murmuring, "C— Can I request one thing?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Please tell Naruto that I'm sorry… For lying to him," she closed her eyes and gulped in more breaths of air, "I should've never lied about my feelings, even if I thought that I was protecting him."

Kakashi nodded, "I will," he promised and arranged her in a more relaxing position, unzipping her cloak and laying it out under her. The pink haired girl gave him a small smile before her eyes slipped close, and she didn't open them again.

He stood back up and glared over his shoulder at Sasuke, who was busy grinning manically, eagerly waiting to kill his previous teacher.

He looked at Karin, and walked over to her, kneeling by her side as he murmured, "Hang in there, you can be saved, but you have to heal yourself, can you do it?"

Karin nodded slowly, "I think," she managed in a hoarse whisper. She was shaking, trembling at what just happened. She couldn't believe that Sasuke just murdered his old teammate and friend just like that, a girl who… Loved him. And he just tossed her aside like she was nothing.

Just like he did to Karin herself.

Kakashi nodded and helped Karin up, letting her lay on her back. She pressed a hand to her chest and her fingers glowed green, healing her own injuries with the small amount of chakra she had left.

"He's not the same Sasuke you knew," Karin managed to murmur our hoarsely as the silver haired male stood, not sparing her another glance, "He's changed."

Kakashi was silent for a brief moment before he looked down at her, his gaze so intense that it made Karin jolt ever so slightly, "I know," he replied in a terse voice before he turned and walked back towards Sasuke.

* * *

Naruto had a sinking feeling in his stomach; he could feel that something wasn't right. He blinked his aqua blue eyes and continued to jump from branch to branch, his pace quickening. He didn't know why; but he had a feeling that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

He began to worry more and more, until he finally managed to reach the bridge. From where he was standing, he could see that Kakashi and Sasuke were facing off on the lake. Sasuke's lips were moving, but Naruto couldn't hear what was being said. He briefly wondered where Sakura and the others were; there was no way he could've beaten them here, is there?

His train of thought was completely derailed as he caught sight of a familiar pink head. She was pretty far away, but he could tell that she was lying on her back. He grew worried; did she get injured or pass out or something? He jumped down from the tree and ran across the bridge, deciding to intervene in their fight after he made sure Sakura was okay.

He stopped dead in his tracks upon approaching her.

Her eyes were closed, her face and body paler than usual. Dried blood was on her lips and chin, and there was a gaping hole in her chest. She looked downright horrible, but her expression, it was peaceful, tranquil.

He fell to his knees beside her and reached forward, pressing two fingers against her neck. No pulse. He leaned over her, his face only an inch for hers, trying to feel if she was breathing or not, no breath escaped from her.

'_Wake up Sakura…_' he thought desperately to himself, fighting back tears, '_Wake up and punch me in the face for being this close to you. Please… Please…!'_

No response. Of course. She couldn't respond no matter how much he wanted her to. She was dead.

A choked sob fell past his lips, and he gently ran a hand over her pink head, he knew what had happened to her. Even an idiot like himself could figure it out.

Sasuke did this. Sasuke killed her.

He didn't know why, he didn't know how, all he knew was that Sasuke was the one responsible for this.

"Y—Your friend was the one… Th—that killed her," a unfamiliar voice spoke up. Naruto blinked his eyes and looked up from his dead crush to the unfamiliar woman lying a few feet from her.

He didn't realize that she was even there before she spoke up. He blinked away the tears that were threatening to flow, and managed to choke out, "W—who are you?"

"A… Former teammate of Sasuke's as well," the girl sat up and smiled bitterly, pushing a strand of red hair behind her ear as she added, "He betrayed me as well… He's not the same S—Sasuke you knew a couple years ago… N—not anymore."

Naruto looked back down at his pink haired friend and gently lifted her limp upper body in is arms. She felt so lifeless, it made the blond's heart just shatter into pieces. This was real. This was really happening. His teammate, a woman he loved, was murdered by his best friend.

He buried his face into the girl's neck and began to really sob, ignoring the wine colored haired girl in front of him and the battle raging on below him. Tears spilled out his eyes uncontrollably, his entire body shaking like he was cold.

Karin bit her lower lip, all this crying was even starting to affect even herself. A shinobi should never show tears or emotion in the face of an enemy… So why? She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes, her hands slowly curling into fists as she tried to keep her own emotions in check.

_'Dammit!_' she thought in frustration as tears spilled out her ruby red eyes and down her scratched cheeks.

Naruto's loud wailing had quieted into soft sobs, soon followed by sniffling. He clutched Sakura's dead body a bit tighter as the reality of the situation crashed down upon him like an angry tidal wave.

Sasuke really had changed. He was lost in the darkness, consumed by hatred and vengeance.

But that didn't mean that Naruto was ready to give up on him.

And as Naruto stopped crying and set Sakura's body back down. He made an unspoken promise to her corpse. He would bring his best friend back to the village, no matter what it took. For Sakura, and for himself, he would bring Sasuke back to the village, back to the light. He didn't care how 'evil' Sasuke was now, if Sasuke could change from being semi-good to evil, then he could also change back. His resolve hadn't changed; he'd just gotten more determined.

He would bring Sasuke back, no matter what.

* * *

**A/N**: So what do you guys think? Good? Bad? I kind of wrote what i thought would've happened if Sasuke managed to kill her. I'm not sure how many times this has been done, but I did it anyways! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Please don't bash any characters in this fic, they are all my favorite (including Karin), so keep your hateful comments to yourself. Otherwise guest reviews will be deleted and flaming jerks on their profiles will be blocked. Thank you!


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